The class was intro to health careers. I have discussed the specifics of this class before. It's the end of the year, and they were working on an end-of-the-year calender project.
Three girls approached me. They asked to go to the library to print out items for their project.
I grabbed a pass, filled out the bits I knew (date, room number, where they were going, period, time), signed my name at the bottom, and then I asked for their names.
The first girl said her name. Then, without missing a beat, she began spelling it. The second girl did exactly the same. As did the third.
I appreciated the consideration. All three had the kind of names I highlight on my sidebar under "Student Name of the Week". (One of their names may--or may not--be there right now.)
"Used to having to spell your names out?" I asked.
I recognize the habit. It is my own. Not my first name. I figure most people can handle that. But my last name is one that most people have never heard before. I often say it and then spell it out (when in a situation in which someone is writing it down).
I wonder at parents who give their children such "interesting" names. Don't they know the lifetime of hassle these names bring?
Ah well. I guess they get used to it at some point. Either that, or when they're old enough they change it to something easier to spell.
You have to wonder what some parents were thinking. I've got a plain vanilla name, I don't have an issue, but I've heard some really interesting names ...
ReplyDeleteOh yea, some of them are craaaazy.
DeleteGosh, I can't, but I can do a whole post of unusual names that I have ran across in my years of transcription (can't because it would be a HIPAA violation, protecting people's privacy). Some of them I'm thinking "what were those parents thinking when they came up with this name?" I had an uncommon maiden name that I always had to spell, now married I'm still having to spell the married name because it ends with an "on" and people want to make it an "en." I was very happy with the name chosen for grandson, very plain and simple, compared to his sister's name which I'm always having to think twice on how to spell it when writing out a card, etc.
ReplyDeletebetty
Yeah, I thought twice about doing the "student name of the week". But I figure with no last name...
DeleteI never understood some of the stranger names/spellings, either. ~shakes head~ A former coworker who worked as an EMT once helped birth a baby girl given the name for the biological channel through which she left her mother. ??? The woman thought the v-word 'pretty'. As for the pain of others, I'm like you and often get physically sick in some way. I had to put down a recent work of realistic fiction for that reason. As it turns out, the author himself admitted deciding to write some light, summertime beach reads before channeling all the pain of stories like this destroyed him. So at least we're not alone. And migraines are horrible. ~hugs~ I seem to have outgrown them and hope they're rare for you.
ReplyDeleteAlas, the migraines are frequent enough. Not terribly frequent, though.
DeleteThe last name I grew up with with a speller-outer, but now that I have Sean's which is as white bread as they come, I still spell it out of habit, and people look at me weird.
ReplyDeleteI guess the spelling habit never entirely goes away.
DeleteMy last name is already challenging enough. I can't imagine making a first name such a challenge.
ReplyDeleteAt least in most of those cases, the last name is fairly common.
DeletePeople have no ability to spell names. My name isn't that hard to figure out and people STILL can't get it right.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's true, too.
DeleteI took my hubby's last name when we got married and have had to spell it out ever since lmao
ReplyDeleteSorry about that. I know your pain.
DeleteI always had to spell my maiden name. And even though my current last name isn't that difficult I still have to spell it for a lot of people!
ReplyDeleteEven simple names have more than one spelling, so sometimes it's good to specify. Then again, some people just can't spell.
DeleteStart us young, schools did, to have us spell our last name without being asked.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's definitely a good life skill ;)
DeleteI know the type of names which were exotic and students always had to spell out. Some of them were adept at spelling out their names as they knew a new person wouldn't be able to write it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, those always trip people up.
DeleteMy name is very common in India. Still many a time, I have to ensure it is spelt right, because the same name is also spelt slightly differently (Pradip); and they both are pronounced the same way.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely depends on location. In this case, I'm talking about made up names, though. These are not names that anyone else has.
DeleteMy first name is usually not a problem - only sometimes - but my maiden name was a less common spelling of a common name. It drove me crazy for almost 40 years of my life before I finally married someone with a simpler name!
ReplyDeleteIt can drive you crazy, or you can get used to it. Glad you have a simpler name now.
DeleteI hadn't noticed your name of the week - I'm going to keep an eye on that now because I'm always stunned at names people give their kids. No matter how common it is now for weird will-have-to-spell-for-ever names I see.
ReplyDeleteThis is the list of top 30 unusual boy and girl baby names for Australia in 2017 (there are some doozies): https://www.babycenter.com.au/a25024694/unusual-baby-names-of-2017